


A Rune On The Hand. A Rune On The Heart.

by VkFujan



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec has anxiety, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Awgh whatever, But that was minor, Episode: s01e12 Malec - Wedding Scene, Fluff, Freeform, I could put so many tags, Language of Flowers, M/M, Malec, Mutual Pining, POV Alec, Plotty, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Spoiler until 1x12, The "fear of disappointing" kind, there is pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-06-04 09:12:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6651781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VkFujan/pseuds/VkFujan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was ridiculous.</p><p>No. Nonononononono.</p><p>He was Alec Lightwood, he couldn’t have a soulmate.</p><p>But still, there it was on his hand, glimmering, the mark that stayed dormant for almost ten years.</p><p>Alec shoved his hand in his pocket. He shouldn’t have accepted the “one more drink” plea, but he was curious about more things than one.<br/>- Here it is, Alexander. I made it lighter, hope you will enjoy it more.<br/>- Thank you. Uh, can I ask you something?<br/>- Ask to you hearts content, as you know I still am the-<br/>- What do you know about soulmates?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Rune On The Hand. A Rune On The Heart.

**Author's Note:**

> Slut for Soulmates!AU and a slut for flowers, I may apologize for this.  
> [Flower's meanings](http://thelanguageofflowers.com/) But I'll explain their marks at the end.  
> I only watched the show(and the movie, but I don't talk about it) so it may seen ooc. Feedback me about it if you want.  
> [Alec's mark/rune](http://www.zibuangelicsymbols.com/assets/img/Kindness_new.png)

Alec was just a boy when his hand itched and ached for the first time.

“A rune on the hand. A rune on the heart.”

He repeated the words to himself as he astonished glared at his hand.  
The mark was black, darker than common runes he saw. The drawing was almost cursive writing of an unfinished “H” and he couldn’t remember it from anywhere; next to it was a black dot, this thing only got more clueless.

 

\- Mother? – The boy stopped by the entrance of the room and waited for permission.

\- Yes, Alec?

\- I – He took a deep breath – I think I got married.

Maryse stopped sorting papers for a second then kept going.

\- Come in and close the door, please.

He got inside, obeying the orders he received.

\- Alec, this is nonsense. It couldn’t be possible for you to have gotten married, you just turned ten years old. You aren’t even due to your first rune yet, much more a wedding one.

\- But mother, the wedding we went a few months ago, remember? The Silent Brother said “A rune on the hand. A rune on the heart.” And when I woke up my hand was-

Maryse looked up to him as he held up his left hand.

\- See?

The mother stiffened in place.

\- Oh my An- Robert, I need you here! Now!

Alec’s father came from the other room; Max was asleep on his arms.

\- What is it?

\- Alec.

\- Dad, look, I got a wedding rune!

As Alec held up his hand for his father, understanding filled his face.

\- Oh, no.

\- Robert.

\- Maryse, what do you want me to do? It isn’t like we can strip him of this… _Rune_. Not even Silent Brothers can.

\- I know. I guess things will have to be explained to him, then.

\- Got it, I’ll just put Max at the crib.

Alec was apprehensive of what his father could have to talk to him. What if there were something wrong with him? What if he couldn’t be a shadowhunter anymore? He had been training all his life for this. He stared down at his hand, already cursing the weird mark.

\- Alec, I’m ready for you.

The boy followed to the other chamber.

\- Sit down. That, son, isn’t a marriage rune, as you were thinking. It’s much more significant than that, but at the same doesn’t have to mean nothing at all.

\- Dad, I don’t-

\- It is a soulmate’s mark, Alec.

From there on Alec learned that some runes can’t be written and can’t be erased.

Still, the mark didn’t meant much to him until Jace came around; when his foster brother came into care he soon fell in love, but Jace didn’t have a soulmate’s mark.

“Soulmates are rare; they are meant to be the matching person to the other. Two halves of the same greek being that, feared for being too powerful, was split in two.  Yadayada..." Yet, Alec was in love with Jace and couldn’t imagine himself wanting anyone else.  
“Soulmates also aren’t accurate,” he thought, “soulmates are bullshit.”

* * *

 Now the damn rune was _glimmering_ , almost sparkling. The mark that stayed dormant for almost ten years. Alec shoved his hand in his pocket. He shouldn’t have accepted the “one more drink” plea, but he was curious about more things than one.

Besides, he said it himself, “Screw the rules. Screw them. Screw all this.”

\- Here it is, Alexander. I made it lighter, hope you will enjoy it more.

Magnus handed him a cup with a blue liquid, he took special care into not touching the warlock’s fingers again and sat beside him on the couch.

\- Thank you. Uh, can I ask you something?

Alec still couldn’t look straight into Magnus' eyes. Even glamoured they were too deep, he was afraid of not coming back from them.  
On the other side, Magnus took his time reading all that he could out of Alec’s body language.

\- Ask to your hearts content, as you know I still am the-

\- What do you know about soulmates?

The warlock’s rambling came to a halt as he stared fixedly until the shadowhunter looked back.

\- Soulmates are a rare occurring between mundane blood. It can happen to anyone who has it, but their destined soulmate must be born the same time as them, though. Otherwise, it isn’t a soulmate’s mark that appears, but a scar and they are due to try again in another lifetime.

Alec took a sip out of his cup and glanced away. Magnus gestured blatantly with his hand while finishing explaining.

\- It is said that when two soulmates connect, and their marks change, they do not come back in other lives anymore either. So, one day all mundanes, nephilim, warlocks, werewolves, vampires and fairies will be gone, leaving the world to the demons. To think _love_ would be the fall of the world, so much irony…

Magnus was gulping his drink, so he didn’t noticed how Alec turned to him, how enraged was his glare.

\- Soulmating. Doesn’t. Mean. Love. Soulmate’s marks are nothing but a _curse_.

\- Wow, I did not mean to offend you. You asked for knowledge, I shared it. Now drink, Alexander, you are ruining the mood...

Alec stared down at his cup and muffled a – Sorry… - before drinking and talking again.

\- Do you know… You know, anyone with a mark?

\- The first one I did pro bono, but this answer is going to cost you.

\- Sure, what do you want?

Magnus held Alec’s gaze for a few seconds before running his eyes on the man across him, head to toe. The older Lightwood suddenly was too conscious of himself, and found it hard to swallow.

\- Your knowledge. My answers for yours, deal?

\- Sure, what do you want to know?

\- Why does this soulmates talk interests you so much? You certainly don’t look like the type…

\- I know someone who is cur- _Marked_.

\- Oh, and do I know this someone?

\- It’s my turn to get answers.

\- Fair. Yes, I do know some people who carry the mark, myself included.

The glass almost slipped from Alec’s hand.

\- Wow, quite a reaction. Now for my ans-

\- When did you get your mark? I mean... You are immortal. Shouldn't it be a scar?

\- It was a scar until... 1989, I guess?

Alec's eyes went wide.

\- A-Any reason you can think for it?

\- The year they were born, obviously. As a mark only appears at the ten years and oh my... I was way ahead of that by then.

The shadowhunter was starting to sweat, he was born at 1989. But it was a coincidence, right? It had to be...

\- I- I got to go.

Magnus stopped his eye rolling half loop and sighed.

\- Fine, but I am not forgetting the subject.

\- Yeah, okay, sure.

Alec left the drink on the coffee table and rushed out of Magnus’ doors.

 

He barely made it to the streets when he sat down, back on a brick-wall. He pressed his palms into his eyes.

“Of course Magnus Not-Cryptic-Coy Charming Cat-Eyed Warlock Can’t-Get-Out-Of-My-Head Bane has a soulmate’s mark! Of. Fucking. Course.”

His left hand itched. A buzzing sensation that grew stronger every second.  
He looked down at his hands, his ability handling the bow and arrows were terrific, but, oh Angel, his hands where betraying him right there.  
The itch, the buzz, the discomfort only grew and he knew what they wanted. What the  _mark_ wanted.

Magnus Bane.  
On his hands, on the reach of his fingertips. Just the soft touch of his glittery decorated skin, just one more second, one more time.

No way he was going back to that house like that.

When he helped Magnus, when they held hands, it was right on right so it didn’t triggered any changes on his mark. Just this _annoying_ glimmering that was slowly fading and the itching, _oh the itching_. Was it never going away?

This was ridiculous.

No. Nonononononono.

Magnus Bane couldn’t be his soulmate. They, erm… She, would be a distinguished shadowhunter. Yeah, yes, his soulmate would be a beautiful capable female shadowhunter. They would understand each other and work as a team, just like his parents.

It wouldn’t have this mess, this palpitation and short breath, all these glances and, certainly, not this _electricity_.

Okay, maybe he couldn’t get it up for a woman, but soulmating was about more than that. It was about understanding each other and fitting well as working gears.  
And what if Magnus was his soulmate? Soulmates are bullshit, and Alec certainly didn’t need that.

 

None of it stopped him from coming back to that house, nevertheless.

Magnus called and he went.  
Even though that he knew it wasn't a new lead, that's the excuse he used to everyone, to himself. But he knew better, he wanted to see the man. Alec couldn't accept in himself the attraction he felt, the desire to just get his eyes on that someone. Just a little dose to keep him going.  
But Magnus wanted him back, this complicated his pretending. Inside the house, a drink popped on his hand as a greeting. His head was a blender of matters.

Mother

Duty

Lydia

Wedding

Love

Happiness

Soul

Magic

Mother

If Alec could freeze time, he would, just to take a break. Live like, twenty years? Of frozen time to be able to come back and fulfill his duty without hesitation. Without looking back.

So when their conversation was over and Magnus disappeared on him, he left. The last words said hammering on his ears.

"I will not ask again."  
Denying everything he and Magnus could have meant, everything that could had been.

"I will not ask again."  
He shut the door, all possibilities were gone for good now.

"I will not ask again."  
He made it halfway to the Institute before running the halfway back to Bane’s house.

 

\- State your business, Alexander. I got much to do and time is not on my side on this.

Alec was panting, he rested his hand on the wall, looking for support.

\- Let me see it.

\- What? You do have to be a little more specific here.

Alec looked up at the warlock.

\- Your soulmate’s mark, let me see it.

\- My mark is for selected eyes only. Even if yours are quite alluring, they are not your best virtue. I am afraid I must deny your request.

\- Magnus.

Alec got his breath back, he stepped forward, the warlock within an arm’s reach. “Now, that’s a win.” Magnus thought.

\- So what is my best virtue then?

\- Oh, Alexander – Magnus stepped forward – You ought to know that not your eyes, but your – The older man hovered his thumb over the shadowhunter’s lip, a strand of hair of distance between their skins. The shadowhunter's eyes followed Magnus’ finger like he was in trance. Motioning slowly, his thumb made a bend up, drawing a grin on Alec’s face – Your smile. The soul-cleansing-light that comes from it. Even an old soul as mine cannot resist much against it.

\- So, does that mean that I just need to ask nicer? – Alec spoke in a low tone and then popped a cocky half smile. Magnus licked his lips at the sight.

\- Not so cheap like that, _Alexander_. – And, _oh_  the space between them was pure static – There is something I want in exchange.

\- Again? Fine, would it be more answers?

\- Oh no, I want to see your mark too.

Alec froze in place.

\- How could you- I don’t- Why would-

\- Alexander, I have not lived this many centuries only being lured by handsome people and drinking to my immortal liver's content. I know that you also have a mark, now, if you only reach out your hand, then I will reach out mine.

\- Your hand is glamoured.

One quick finger’s snap.

\- Not anymore.

Alec hesitated for a moment then shrugged his shoulder’s.

\- Fine.

He reached out his hand, palm up, and in the dim light the unfinished “H” and black dot could be seen, glimmering almost invisibly.

\- Oh.

\- Now your turn.

Magus got his hand up without taking his eyes out of Alec’s rune.

The warlock's mark was a black inverted triangle circled by a black line.

\- When I was a kid, people didn’t seem to know what my mark meant, I know it is a rune but still… I just stopped asking.

\- It is Zibu. - Magnus said with a little of awe in his voice - An angelic language given to humanity before the birth of the shadowhunters. You could call it a first attempt, per say.

\- It’s a good lead, now I can find out what-

\- "Kindness" – Magnus said still awed, hovering his finger over it – Means kindness, not that I think it actually suits me.

Alec retracted his hand.

\- What are you talking about? You are not- We are not-

\- Soulmates? Take my hand and try it then, no room for doubts.

Magnus eyes were daring, but Alec panicked. He couldn’t take the hand in front of him. The Warlock let out a deep sigh and turned his back on the man one more time.

\- Runaway then, Alec, that is all you seems to do anyway. But I am seriously warning you this time, do not come back. I cannot keep playing this game with you.

Alec stood still one more second, then mouthed a soundless “sorry” and went out the door almost running. His hand ached like never before.

 

Wedding day.

Yay!

Marriage and getting married and flowers and preparations and lydia and

Ugh.

Alec was so not ready for this.

Specially when Magnus was there for a mission early in the morning and they confronted. On one hand, he was annoyed. Magnus was in a bad mood, no wonder why, and sassed him and Lydia. On the other, he was trilled. His stomach gurgled with something that wasn’t pure nerve-wracking anxiety. Just the sight of Magnus Bane and his hand retook itching like if it was plagued.

Izzy was reassuring; still, a tiny part of him hoped she would try to stop him on this.

He went through the day thinking of the man.

“Magnus.”  
When the name came up with the call on his cellphone and was dropped without giving him a chance to think about answering.

“Magnus.”  
When he made up with Jace and realized he wasn’t crushing, that much anymore, on his brother.

“Magnus.”  
When he showered and his hand ached more and more, as if to show how betrayed the mark felt.

“Magnus.”  
When he dressed his suit and his first thought was that the white would contrast against the warlock’s fancy colors.

“Magnus.”  
When he got down to the wedding hall and he could have ran all the way back again.

“Magnus.”  
When his mother praised him.

“Magnus.”  
When Lydia entered the room and, oh my Angel, she was beautiful! But she wasn’t Magnus Bane.

“Magnus.”  
When he looked at the rune on ice and gave his hand to Lydia and she was a little startled to see the soulmate’s mark there.

The wedding rune was going over it. Maybe it would still itch and buzz and ache but he wouldn’t have to remember that much, would he? Maybe the feeling would fade like a one-time-use rune. Maybe the wedding rune would annul the feelings he already had.

Maybe he wouldn’t be in love and marrying someone else.

Maybe he would be happy.

Maybe he would finally adequate into a truth that weren’t his before.

Maybe

May

Ma

Mag

Magnus Bane.

The warlock entered the room and fixed his gaze on his.

_Oh fuck._

 

_Screw the wedding._

\- I can’t do this.  
Alec barely heard his own words as he stepped aside.

\- Lydia, I'm sorry. - She was reassuring him that it was fine. It broke his heart, he owned so much to her.  
His hand buzzed more than hurt, longing for the man in front of him.

He walked down the aisle; he cut his mother rant and smacked his lips on the warlock’s.

Finally.

Magnus held his face, caressing it. They looked into each others eyes and smiled.

Finally.

Alec laced the hand on his face with his and kissed the man he loved again. As their left hands entangled, he didn’t notice his mark changing, but that wasn’t oblivious to the room.  
  
His unfinished “H”-like rune went from black to bright yellow.  
The black dot bloomed into a full christmas rose, white petals sprayed with red, dark green leafs adorning it. The flowers went from his palm to the back of his hand, stopping at his wrist; a small leaf rested on his ring finger and wrapped it.

Magnus’ hand also changed. His black inverted triangle became metallic blue, the tip of an arrow which's shaft went to his elbow. The circle became a cup of rose tea; from it, thorn less rose vines adorned the length of his arm, his ring finger was also wrapped.  
Their hands weren’t buzzing anymore, not that they cared as their breaths were taken by one another.

 Well, you couldn’t really say that it didn’t happen a wedding that night.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, I can't believe I pulled this off!  
> Zibu it's actually a thing and you can find more about it [here](http://www.zibuangelicsymbols.com/) if you want  
> Alec's Mark: has "Kindness" that I think it fits Magnus SO WELL. It has yellow that are his eyes' color. And the roses' color pattern means "Tranquilize My Anxiety" which I think it is something Magnus will spend the rest of his existence doing. Also, rose leafs mean "You May Hope" and Oh my  
> If you don't think Alec spent all his life hoping to adequate, hoping to change, hoping to not have the feelings he had, hoping that he would still be loved, hoping he would not disappoint as a shadowhunter and a son, then we need to talk...
> 
> Magnus' Mark: The arrow as Alec because it's how he is in combat, also because I love the "straight as an arrow" pun. Blue because his eyes. Roses tea means "I'll Remember; Always", I'm already getting emotional all again... And a thorn-less rose means "Love at First Sight", and Oh boy, Magnus was a victim... Oh! And his mark was bigger because he lived longer and waited longer for his soulmate to appear.
> 
> Respectable criticism is welcomed, you can always message me on [Tumblr](fujkelevramad.tumblr.com)
> 
> I swore to myself I wouldn't write Shadowhunters' fanfic...


End file.
